BFC Q2) NIU expects you to meet two objectives in EPFE 201: 1) to identify a few key issues in education today and 2) to develop your perspective on those issues. Explain how you have met these objectives by discussing the most important issue we covered (Pink, concussions, funding, teacher quality, tenure, poverty in general…). What is the issue, what is the most compelling information about the issue in your opinion, and what should we do about it?

I have learned a lot about education and the problems it is facing in EPFE 201 and when I go out in the real world and see something about things such as tenure, I immediately think back to this class. Speaking of tenure, I found this concept/issue to be rather interesting. I had never even heard the word before being in this class and now I can say that I learned from lecture that tenure has a couple of myths that go along with it. It’s not impossible to be fired under tenure but it would take an extremely long process to get rid of a tenured teacher which is why this is a problem. I think some teachers take advantage of tenure and tend to slack off on their jobs. I’m sure not all of them do but in the movie “Waiting For Superman” they explained tenure and showed some animations that prove that a lot of teachers don’t try to teach as they should if they have tenure. What should we do about tenure? I think we should either get rid of it completely and figure out a more efficient way to evaluate teachers. The teachers shouldn’t be able to know what they are being tested on because then they will purposely do well in that area for the evaluation. But if we can’t get rid of tenure then we should only carefully give it to teachers that truly deserve it by having the students take surveys and having someone evaluate the teacher. Tenure is like many issues, hard to resolve and perfect but if teachers aren’t teaching students what they need for the future then what point is there in paying a ton of money for school? After taking this class it makes me thankful for the education that I received as a child because many families have it tough such as the ones seen in “Waiting For Superman.” It was impossible to not feel sorry for them but they and thousands of others are going through the same thing. There is definitely a lot that needs to be fixed in education but it’s far from easy.  

BFC Q1) A critical theorist would argue that the characters in the Breakfast Club are the perfect example of 1) how SES can impact one’s attitude about education, 2) how SES impacts the way schools order themselves socially (hierarchies), and 3) how SES impacts the ways students treat one another. Choose at least one character and make a case either for or against this theoretical perspective (agree/disagree).

I agree with the perspective of how the characters in the movie “The Breakfast Club” are a great example of how socio-economic status impacts education. First off, looking at Claire and Brian you can tell how social status affects the students’ attitudes about education. Claire has rich parents and she gets everything she wants and even got detention for ditching school to go shopping. This shows that she really doesn’t value her education as she is at the top of the social hierarchy. Brian on the other hand is towards the bottom of the hierarchy and although his parents force him to get A’s you can still tell that he appreciates his education more since he’s in many academic clubs as well. Second, SES impacts the way schools order themselves. Claire and Andrew are a good example because they are both at the top of the social hierarchy and they start talking to each other right away in detention. They kind of try to ignore everyone else because they are far below them. Finally, SES impacts the way the students treat each other and Bender is a good example of this. He is probably the lowest on the social hierarchy being the criminal type and he treats the prep, Claire, and the jock, Andrew, disrespectfully. He also tries to get to Claire’s level and get in her head by sexually harassing her and she doesn’t like it. The students argue throughout the movie because they are so different both by social status and because of their family lives. They all have extremely different home lives but they still all find a way to hate their parents either way. So even though socio-economic status impacts the way students treat each other and view each other the movie shows that even different people can still be friends in the end.

Q6) The film has definite realist tones that can be perceived as negative. If change is to occur, we must find hope. What hope for a better future do you find in the film?

In "Waiting For Superman" the film shows many high authority people such as presidents trying to improve the education system but nothing seems to be working. They either don't give enough money to the education program or they are backing out because it is too much work because the system is really that bad. It is extremely important that people don't lose hope anywhere including parents, their kids, the teachers, and so on. I think one of the only possible way to give education a better future is to start over. Yes it would be very difficult and expensive but with how much the nation is in debt now I don't think it should really matter at this point. I was fortunate enough in my education that I didn't have to go through what some of the children in the film went through. It was very heartbreaking to see some of them not get into the better schools in the lottery drawing. It was impossible to not feel sorry for them. But like everyone else, if they don't lose hope they can find a way to get through the struggles of a good education.

Q5) After watching the film and our class discussions about it, what have you learned about the concept of TENURE? What didn’t you know prior? What are your thoughts about it now? Is it a viable way to retain good teachers? What are the problems with tenure as you see it? Be sure to address how you would measure quality/poor teaching in your answer.

Before taking this class I honestly had no clue what "tenure" meant. Now that I've watched "Waiting For Superman" and from class lectures I have learned that tenure is basically a way for a teacher to have their job secured. It is not impossible to fire a tenured teacher but it is extremely difficult to do so. It would also require a long process that goes through court. I'm not really sure that I like the process of tenure because just because a teacher has been teaching for a long time doesn't mean they are extremely good at it. I do not think it is a worthwhile way to retain teachers because as I previously said, it doesn't guarantee that they are good. Tenure could be made good if it was measured possibly by students taking a survey where the teachers don't know what is on it because if they do then they will purposely do better in those areas. As I see tenure, I think a problem with it is that once teachers know they have a secure position then they may tend to slack off and not try as hard to give the children the proper education that they need to succeed in life.

Q4) "Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System" Article

I think this article was very powerful in showing how the US education system is falling apart.
The author quotes a teacher that says that a lot of what they are teaching is fake and will never be used in the real world. This is true, I remember in a lecture that we had one class that we agreed that there would be stuff we would never use again and it's a problem that teachers even tell their students this because it just makes them not try as hard to master the material.

Second, the author brings up how Charter school systems are not concerned with education. I agree with this statement because in the movie "Waiting For Superman" so many people wanted to get into a charter school because the students take a different curriculum and may not get all the necessary classes they need for college. These schools were different from public schools and some families had a only a 1 in 5 chance of getting into one.

Finally, I think the author is correct when they talk about getting rid of professional teachers that actually do a good job and put in less-experienced teachers just because they cost less money. It is a shame that good teachers are the ones that end up leaving due to costs. This is why our education system is crumbling. Teachers don't try as hard, and as seen in "Waiting For Superman" teachers that are tenured have almost nothing to lose because it's extremely difficult to fire a tenured teacher.

Q2) Respond (summarize and react) to both a) the most impacting personal story and b) the most impacting fact/statistic presented thus far in the film.

Personally I think that Daisy had the most impacting story in the film "Waiting For Superman" because of the future that lies ahead of her. She knows almost exactly what she wants to do when she grows up and even applies to college in elementary school but the hurdles ahead of her are large. The high school she has to go to has only every 3 of 100 students graduating with all the required classes to attend a 4 year college. It makes me feel bad for Daisy because not all of it is in her control. She lives in an area with bad schools but she can't control that. 

A statistic that I think is very impacting are the reading scores across the nation. Most states have only between 20-35% of students proficient in reading and Washington DC is the lowest. I think it's ironic that the capital of the USA has the worst schools because you would think they would be the most elite but it's the exact opposite. Either way these statistics show that education all over the nation is lacking in many areas and has many problems that need to be fixed but it's just not that easy.

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A popular quote from one of my favorite movies, The Avengers!

"I have an army." -Loki

"We have a Hulk." -Tony Stark (Iron Man)